The U.S. Department of Energy's GATEWAY program has released a report describing four exterior SSL projects that have been completed at Princeton University, which has long recognized SSL’s potential benefits. These projects show how the school’s approach to solid-state lighting has evolved as its knowledge has broadened and as the products available have improved in performance and sophistication:

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a solid-state lighting (SSL) R&D funding opportunity on October 29, 2015. Under this funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0001364, “Solid-State Lighting Advanced Technology R&D—2016”), a total of up to $10.5 million in funding is directed toward all three existing DOE SSL R&D program areas: 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has developed a near ultra-violet and all-organic light emitting diode (OLED) that can be used as an on-chip photosensor.

The U.S. Department of Energy has released a new report on the comprehensive street lighting restoration currently being undertaken by the City of Detroit, which includes transitioning the existing high-pressure sodium (HPS) sources to LED. Entitled Restoring Detroit's Street Lighting System, the report provides an objective review of the circumstances surrounding the system restoration, the processes undertaken and decisions made, and the results to date.

The U.S. Department of Energy has released a GATEWAY report on the experiences of the City of Portland, OR, in converting its street lighting from high-pressure sodium to LED. Such large-scale conversions are rarely simple matters, and the Portland Bureau of Transportation was an early investigator of LED street lighting and one of the first public agencies to join DOE's Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium, so learning how the city addressed the challenges it encountered can be especially helpful to other cities that are implementing or considering their own lighting transitions.

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released Report 23: Photometric Testing of White-Tunable LED Luminaires, which is the first in a planned series of investigations on color-tunable LED luminaires. The main goal of the new study was to understand the amount of testing required to characterize a white-tunable LED lighting product. In this case, determining a sufficient protocol required more extensive testing than would be feasible for widespread use. Eight white-tunable luminaires were tested at dozens of points covering the range of color tuning (CCT) and dimming (luminous intensity).

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released Report 22.1, which is part of a series of investigations on LED MR16 lamps. Report 22 investigated the photometric performance of 27 LED MR16 lamps compared to benchmark halogens. Report 22.1 examines the photoelectric performance of that same set of lamps, using commercially available transformers and dimmers, as well as laboratory power supplies providing either AC or DC.

The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) has just published a technical memorandum, TM-30-15, that outlines a new system for evaluating the color rendition of light sources. While the International Commission on Illumination's Color Rendering Index (CRI) enjoys widespread use, its limitations are well recognized, and the need for a viable alternative is increased by the proliferation of SSL, which offers tremendous scope for spectral engineering and optimization.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science published the Fiscal Year 2016 Phase I, Release 1 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on August 17, 2015, for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs. Under DE-FOA-0001366, whose complete listing of technical topics was released on July 20, DOE seeks applicants for grants directed toward FY16 Phase I projects. Topics for this funding opportunity can be found at //science.energy.gov/sbir/funding-opportunities and include LED and OLED lighting (see topic 7).

The U.S. Department of Energy has released a report on a GATEWAY demonstration, in which maintenance and energy costs were significantly reduced while retaining the quality of light when LED modules replaced 87 halogen lamps in existing wall washers at the University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The project began with mockups in the spring of 2014, with final installation completed in March 2015. The primary goals were to maintain the visual appearance of the space while reducing maintenance costs, with energy savings considered an additional benefit.

HexaTech Inc. announced today that it has received a continuation of funding under the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) development program. The cost-share extension is valued at $1.2 million over 1 year, and follows $2.8 million over 2 years when the contract was initiated in 2012.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released its latest report in a series analyzing markets where LEDs compete with traditional lighting sources. The new report, Adoption of Light-Emitting Diodes in Common Lighting Applications, reveals a wealth of insights into promising pathways for SSL technology development, providing estimates of the energy saved in 2014 due to current levels of LED penetration in 10 lighting applications, as well as the potential energy savings if each of these applications had switched completely to the best available LED products. Most notably, it puts the spotlight on two commercial and industrial applications – linear and low-bay/high-bay – that hold by far the greatest potential for future energy savings from SSL.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has forecasted in its annual SSL R&D plan for 2015 that by 2030 approximately 80% of all lighting fixtures in the U.S. will be LED lighting which would result in an annual energy savings of up to 395 TWh, a 60% reduction in electricity consumption, which at a commercial price of $0.10/kilowatt-hour would correspond to an annual savings of US $40 billion.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has awarded four Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants targeting advances in solid-state lighting (SSL) and building-integrated heat and moisture exchange technology:

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has published the 2015 edition of the Solid-State Lighting (SSL) R&D Plan. A consolidation of DOE’s SSL Multi-Year Program Plan and SSL Manufacturing R&D Roadmap of previous years, the new R&D Plan was developed in conjunction with community experts through inputs received at roundtable meetings held in October 2014 and at the DOE SSL R&D Workshop, held in January 2015 in San Francisco. The discussions covered R&D needs for LED and OLED technologies, ranging from core technology research and product development, through manufacturing and applied technology R&D.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced on May 5, 2015 the competitive selection of nine projects for solid-state lighting (SSL), in response to the SSL R&D funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001171. The one- to two-year projects will focus on the areas of Core Technology Research, which involves the application of fundamental scientific concepts to SSL technology; Product Development, which involves using the knowledge gained from basic or applied research to develop or improve commercially viable SSL materials, devices, or systems; and U.S. Manufacturing, which involves accelerating SSL technology adoption through manufacturing innovations and improvements that reduce costs and enhance quality and consistency.

The U.S. Department of Energy has released a follow-up GATEWAY report on LED system performance at the Yuma (Arizona) Sector Border Patrol Area. Six LED luminaires – installed on three poles as part of a trial installation detailed in a prior GATEWAY report – continue to be monitored, with illuminance measurements recorded initially in February 2014 and again in September 2014 at about 2,500 hours of operation and in March 2015 at about 5,000 hours of operation.

Pixelligent Technologies announced that it has been selected for a Phase II Solid State Lighting award from the US Department of Energy to support the development of advanced light-extraction materials for OLED Lighting. Pixelligent has partnered with OLEDWorks for this grant, which follows work on a Phase I award from September 2014.

Winners in the Indoor and Outdoor categories of the seventh annual Next Generation LuminairesTM Design Competition were announced today at LIGHTFAIR® International in New York. Sponsored by DOE, the Illuminating Engineering Society, and the International Association of Lighting Designers, NGL promotes excellence in the design of energy-efficient LED products for commercial lighting applications.

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the competitive selection of nine solid-state lighting (SSL) projects to receive funding, in response to the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001171 (“Solid-State Lighting Advanced Technology R&D – 2015”). These one- to two-year projects will focus on all three existing DOE SSL R&D program areas:

Acuity Brands, one of the world’s leading providers of LED lighting solutions; Cisco, the worldwide leader in IT; and Sensity Systems, the pioneer of Light Sensory Networks (LSN), will present an educational webinar, “Meeting the Presidential Challenge for Advanced Outdoor Lighting.” The webinar is designed to help public sector organizations learn more about what it takes to get involved in the Presidential Challenge for Outdoor Lighting program, which was announced by the White House in January during the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has selected for award two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)-Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II proposals targeting important advancements in OLED technology for solid-state lighting applications:

On Thursday, March 26, DOE will host a 60-minute live webinar called “LEDs: Can They Perform in a Performing Arts Building?”

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released another special report on LED lamps that are available through the retail marketplace and targeted toward general consumers. CALiPER Retail Lamps Study 3.2 focuses on lumen depreciation and color shift in a subset of 15 LED A lamps from CALiPER Retail Lamps Study 3. The lamps were monitored in an automated long-term test apparatus for more than 7,500 hours.

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released Report 20.4, which is part of a series of investigations on LED PAR38 lamps. Report 20.4 focuses on lumen maintenance, chromaticity maintenance, and catastrophic failure in 32 of the Series 20 LED PAR38 lamps and eight benchmark lamps, which were monitored for nearly 14,000 hours at ambient temperatures between 44°C and 45°C. Among the findings:

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has selected for award four Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)-Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) proposals targeting advances in solid-state lighting technology:

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released Report 20.3, which is part of a series of investigations on LED PAR38 lamps. Report 20.3 focuses on an evaluation of robustness. Three samples each of 40 of the Series 20 PAR38 lamps (including LED and benchmark conventional lamps) underwent multi-stress testing, whereby samples were subjected to increasing levels of simultaneous thermal, humidity, electrical, and vibrational stress. The results don't explicitly predict expected lifetime or reliability, but they can be compared with one another, as well as with benchmark conventional products, to assess the relative robustness of the product designs.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) has announced an open funding opportunity for up to $125 million, OPEN 2015, that may be of interest to the solid-state lighting community. OPEN 2015 will support energy research and development projects from top U.S. innovators for game-changing new technologies in transportation and stationary applications, including efficiency for buildings, manufacturing and commerce, and personal use.

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released a special report on LED lamps available through the retail marketplace and targeted toward general consumers. While previous reports in the CALiPER retail lamps series have focused on basic performance parameters, such as lumen output, efficacy, and color quality, the new report – CALiPER Retail Lamps Study 3.1 – focuses on the dimming, power quality, and flicker characteristics of a subset of 14 LED A lamps from CALiPER Retail Lamps Study 3, as controlled by four different retail-available dimmers.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a new GATEWAY report that summarizes the results of a survey regarding conversions to solid-state lighting in museums. The survey was sent to members of the museum community who had requested a copy of “The Guidelines for Assessing Solid-State Lighting for Museums,” the pivotal resource co-authored by Jim Druzik and Stefan Michalski in 2011.